To: All Staff Members From: John J. Kamerick, President Date: July 18, 1972
Mr. Ralph W. Haskell, Professor of Art, passed away Monday morning, July 17, at Nisswa, Minnesota, following a lengthy illness. He had been on disability leave from his teaching responsibilities during the past year. Mr. Haskell was born at Harvard, Illinois, in 1922. He received the B.S. in Education in 1948 from Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, and the M.F.A. in 1952 from the University of Iowa. He was an art instructor in the public schools of Emporia, Kansas, at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, and at the University of Iowa prior to joining the staff at the University of Northern Iowa in 1955 as an Assistant Professor of Art. He advanced to the rank of associate professor in 1960 and to the rank of professor in 1966. He had been a member of the College Art Association, Midwest College Arts, Artists Equity Association, and the American Federation of Teachers. He rendered significant service on university committees and made many contributions to the improvement of art in the schools of Iowa and in Iowa communities generally. His commissioned work included sculpture for the stair landings in the UNI library, the baptismal font cover at the Zion Lutheran Church in Waterloo, and the sculpture for the exterior wall on the Waterloo Recreation Center as well as private commissions for wall sculptures in various homes in the area. His art work is represented in private and university permanent art collections throughout the Midwest.
Mr. Haskell's body was willed to the University of Iowa Medical School. A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, July 21, at the Cedar Heights Presbyterian Church. The flag will be flown at half-mast, and the campanile bells will be played during the time of the memorial service in memory of Mr. Haskell. The family requests no flowers. They suggest that those wishing to contribute to a memorial make their contributions to the Ralph Haskell Art Minority Group Scholarship through the U.N.I. Foundation.